With Abner Louima by His Side, Hevesi Sends a Message

They sat shoulder to shoulder in Brooklyn churches, and walked side by side down one of Harlem's main strips. But while Alan G. Hevesi, the city comptroller and mayoral candidate, talked up voters across New York City yesterday, his companion stood sentrylike at his side -- eyes hidden by a pair of dark sunglasses -- barely speaking a word. He did not have to. Abner Louima's presence said enough.

Tapping into a well of police mistrust by many in minority communities, Mr. Hevesi focused his campaign on black and Latino neighborhoods yesterday, leavening praise of the Police Department with promises to make changes in an institution that some have blamed for worsening racial divisions.

''This a tremendous Police Department that has done great service to the people of the city of New York,'' Mr. Hevesi said after attending services at an East Flatbush church. ''Some percentage of the police officers, however, have violated the rules of probable cause and reasonable search. Some number are racist. Some are heroes and most are decent, professional, caring people, and we want to make sure that message is conveyed.''

''But we have to have zero tolerance,'' he said, ''for any form of misconduct or racial profiling or violations of the law by the Police Department.''

At each stop, Mr. Hevesi repeated the same basic message. And at each stop, Mr. Louima stood by his side. Since he was tortured by police officers in a Brooklyn station house in 1997, Mr. Louima has become for many a powerful symbol of police brutality. And Mr. Hevesi's aides have hoped that Mr. Louima's surprise endorsement of Mr. Hevesi last month will help buoy Mr. Hevesi's campaign among black and Latino voters.

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Mr. Hevesi bristled when asked to respond to criticism that he might be exploiting Mr. Louima's case for political gain. ''In the midst of a heated campaign, there are going to be critics,'' he said. ''Sometimes the criticism is complete nonsense and you don't respond to it.''

It was a charge that some voters said they were sensitive to.

''Black people might be thinking that he's using Mr. Louima as a steppingstone,'' said Kevin Richardson, 41, a vendor, who is African-American and -- after meeting Mr. Hevesi along Malcolm X Boulevard -- said he was considering voting for the comptroller. ''I don't want to think that.''

Allison Grant, 33, a social worker from East Flatbush, said that Mr. Louima's endorsement made many in her community consider voting for Mr. Hevesi more seriously. ''I'm already hearing it,'' said Ms. Grant, who added that Mr. Hevesi already had her vote.

Other candidates were also out on a muggy city Sunday. After a busy Saturday where he made eight campaign stops that took him to each borough, Michael R. Bloomberg made his one campaign appearance at the daylong Ecuadorean Festival in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. Wearing a short-sleeved dress shirt, Mr. Bloomberg spent about 45 minutes shaking hands in a crowd of several hundred.

The Bronx borough president, Fernando Ferrer, released a nine-point plan for increasing gun safety, including mandating more gun safety locks. ''We need to do more,'' he said in a statement. ''We must employ all law enforcement agencies.''